Re: Salt Cap

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Mddeming@xxxxxxx 

In a message dated 7/3/05 2:12:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
Original poster: Adam Britt <beans45601@xxxxxxxxx>

its still not worth it.

-Adam

   Hi Adam,

I believe it is not worth it to you, BUT...This is my advice to any newbie:
 This is one of those areas where there is no right answer for everyone. 
If getting a compact and reliable cap while staying clean and not risking 
making a mess is critical to your comfort zone, then by all means stop 
until you've saved enough money for an MMC. On the other hand, if making 
something that works for practically nothing with your own two 
grubby/gritty hands gives you a rush, then go for the salt water cap first.
    For some folks, a TC is a tool to study electrical effects, for some 
it is a device to try to set spark records with, and for some, the act of 
creation is where it's at. (And many are a mixture of two or three of these).
    My first TC cap from almost 50 years ago was a large sheet of glass in 
a wooden frame with aluminum foil glued to both sides - inefficient as 
heck, but beautiful corona til it cracked. A later one was a pile of 
aluminum flashing and Plexiglas sheets in a 5-gallon fish tank of 10 W 30 
motor oil.( Let's talk mess! :-P ). Today, I am running a pair of Maxwell's 
and will probably go the MMC route when they die, but I will have to admit 
that the first two mentioned gave me a greater sense of accomplishment.
    Likewise, the P4-based PC that I'm typing this on is fantastic, but 
the 8080-based 16 K homebrew that I built in 1978 and the 4-bit VT binary 
counter from 1961 is what I show off to friends. It's all in what floats 
your boat (and how buoyant your wallet is).


Matt D.

Adrian Monk would NEVER attempt a salt water cap.